The 2024 Women’s Professional Rodeo Association’s pro rodeo season was a race to the finish boasting exciting runs and record-setting finishes. During the last weekend of the season many of the WPRA’s top 20 athletes made their trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the CINCH Playoffs Governor’s Cup, where the event paid out more than $1 million. With that much money on the line it held the capacity to alter the WPRA barrel racing world standings, and the ladies of the WPRA were out in full force to take advantage of the opportunity.
With the addition of the Governor’s Cup in the pro rodeo schedule, it’s made the last weekend of the regular season even more exciting than in years past. Going into the $1 million rodeo, Leslie Smalygo lead the WPRA world standings with $195,907 in earnings after winning two of the biggest rodeos of the season — Rodeo Houston and the Calgary Stampede — not to mention hanging tough throughout the entire year.
Four-time WPRA World Champion Hailey Kinsel was sitting in the No. 2 position with $163,103. Kinsel and her famed palomino mare DM Sissy Hayday kicked off the Governor’s Cup in top form and never backed down. Ultimately, Kinsel finished as the 2024 CINCH Playoffs Governor’s Cup champion banking $41,000 moving her into the lead in the world standings race.
DM Sissy Hayday aka “Sister” has become a household name among the barrel racing industry making record-breaking runs, winning feats under pressure and of course rising to the top of the WPRA ranks time and time again. The 2011 palomino mare by PC Frenchmans Hayday and out of Royal Sissy Irish, who’s by Royal Shake Em, splashed onto the scene with The American Rodeo in 2017 as the only contender (non-WPRA invited contestant) to win their event and thus take home a total of $433,333. This season, Sister is yet again showing fans across the nation why she’s become a legend in the sport.
Find 2024 WPRA Top 15 World Standings here.
2024 CINCH Playoffs Governor’s Cup Barrel Racing Results:
Barrel racing: First round: 1. Hailey Kinsel, 13.92 seconds, $11,000; 2. LaTricia Duke, 14.03, $8,250; 3. Halyn Lide, 14.08, $5,500; 4. Shelley Morgan, 14.15, $2,750; 5. Wenda Johnson, 14.18; 6. Ashley Castleberry, 14.19; 7. Dona Kay Rule, 14.27; 8. Andrea Busby, 14.32; 9. Chelsea A. Moore, 14.48; 10. Emily Beisel, 18.85; 11. Jordon Briggs, 18.98; 12. Kassie Mowry, 24.00.
Second round: 1. Kassie Mowry, 13.38 seconds, $11,000; 2. Ashley Castleberry, 13.70, $8,250; 3. Jordon Briggs, 13.80, $5,500; 4. Dona Kay Rule, 13.87, $2,750; 5. Hailey Kinsel, 13.91; 6. Halyn Lide, 13.92; 7. Emily Beisel, 13.96; 8. Shelley Morgan, 14.01; 9. LaTricia Duke, 14.08; 10. Chelsea A. Moore, 14.25; 11. Andrea Busby, 14.32; 12. Wenda Johnson, 19.25.
Advancing: 1. Hailey Kinsel, 27.83 seconds on two head; 2. Ashley Castleberry, 27.89; 3. Halyn Lide, 28.00; 4. LaTricia Duke, 28.11; 5. Dona Kay Rule, 28.14; 6. Shelley Morgan, 28.16; 7. Andrea Busby, 28.64; 8. Chelsea Moore, 28.73.
Semifinals: 1. Hailey Kinsel, 13.72 seconds; 2. LaTricia Duke, 13.83; 3. Ashley Castleberry, 13.88; 4. Shelley Morgan, 13.93; 5. Andrea Busby, 13.94, $3,611; 6. Chelsea A Moore, 14.00, $3,611; 7. Halyn Lide, 19.00, $3,611; 8. Dona Kay Rule, 19.14, $3,611.
Finals: 1. Hailey Kinsel, 13.52 seconds, $30,000; 2. Ashley Castleberry, 13.78, $22,500; 3. LaTricia Duke, 13.86, $15,000; 4. Shelley Morgan, 14.02, $7,500.
